Moving shop

I'd just stay out of it altogether.
It sounds like the current tenant has made some very poor and uninformed business decisions. If he is not willing to put in the hours to make a success of a deli business, that's his problem. If he sunk money into the place making capital improvements that cannot legally be removed when he cancels his lease, again, that's his problem.
You should deal with the landlord and make your agreements with him, not with the current bozo running the deli. Any issues regarding previous improvements to the location are between those two, not you. If the landlord advertised the location for lease at a certain price, in a particular condition (ie, up to code) and you signed a lease for that place, he cannot change the contract after the fact.
If the current tenant contacts you, just tell him your agreement is with the landlord, not him.
Hope it all works out in your favor. Good luck.

Mara, well from a previous life I know a little bit about this stuff.. It is really like this... the lease sets the course of action. BE VERY CAREFUL... FnF is pretty close with his comments but not entirely. IF the current tennant was given concessions for upfit, ie: rental reductions, rental abatements etc then the landlord may have something to say about him tearing up the leased premises when the tenant decides to vacate the bldg. REGARDLESS OF WHAT THE TENANT SAYS. BUT the tennant MAY have some sort of a clause in the lease about what can happen when he terminates the lease ie removing leasehold improvements.

Here are a couple of ideas... FIRST OF ALL what does the new landlord say about this... you gave him a deposit right?? Has he given the existing tenant notice to vacate or a termination date?? If so what will be condition of the space, (which you WILL HAVE TO AGREE TO TAKE AND RETURN IN CERTAIN CONDITIONS resonable wear and tear excepted)What are the current zoning regs. (easy to find out by calling the zoning dept) Will the lease be a sublease from the deli... what does the lease say about that? What is the remaining TERM OF THE ORIGINAL LEASE. Are there ANY percentage rents (additional rents paid based on annual revenue, very common) Does the 2200 include taxes, maintenance (roof, plumbing, structure, sidewalks in front, parking areas etc)?? Does it include utilities etc... The deli may be sellin you his liquor license as well... you may or may not want that... and he definately wants to sell that.

IF the landlord took your deposit then you should be dealing with him...there are real estate laws regarding such... and he KNOWS THEM. Forget the deli owner at this point. (hey he figgers if you will pay him why not ask for it) If you paid the landlord get him to send you a lease! MAKE SURE YOU GET THE LANDLORD TO AGREE THAT THE SPACE IS UP TO CODE UPON POSSESSION...that way he will be sure the plumbing and electric stay.

Many decisions here I would be glad to "coach ya" from the sidelines if you would like feel free to pm me...or better yet get an attny to step in...your attny will keep everyone honest!! (just cost ya..but it might just be money well spent)

Mara, you are spot on with the thoughts of not dealing with the existing tenant. Do NOT return his call and when you go silent HE WILL CALL. He is out of the picture.
Fact is YOU may be a barganing chip used by the existing tenant and the LL is not calling YOU because the Deli guy is telling him "I have a new tenant for you" she is willing to pay you 2200/mo OR I CAN GET HER TO PAY YOU 2200.00 so let me off the hook...the increased rent will pay my back rent. The LL is saying "sorry deli guy you owe me the monthly rents times the number of months left on the original term...or I will see you in court.. The LL is totally negotiating at this point as well... I would call your PRESENT LL ASAP and try to negotiate an extension... at least you will know where you stand with your present LL....

We should probably have this conversation in email ... I am not sure that others would be interested in this situation...check you PM's my email is there.

I have never liked lawyers, never liked dealing with them or paying them, but this is the only time I would advocate using one. Get a lawyer to read the lease, this will be the best $1000.00 you spent.

There are no "standard" leases, it's just an agreement between the LL and the tenanat. I was on the opposite side of the coin, and I want to tell what I did:

5 years ago we moved out of our "deli", it was getting too small, but our lease said all leasehold improvements were ours. We tried to sell the business, lock, stock, and barrel, and with the money we would buy all new equipment at our new place. The buyer agreed to our terms, but when the time came to pay up, he backed out, but the slime-ball had done a deal with the LL and secured the lease to our place. A month before we moved out he comes by and offers peanuts for some of the equipment, we told him (in coarser language...) to fry a kite. A week before move-out date he goes through the LL to buy the walk-in and ventilation hood, again offering peanuts. We don't even respond. We moved EVERYTHING out of that place, I mean everything. Even moved out the wheel-chair approved toilets and replaced them with lime green and pink garge sale toilets. I personally removed the fire supression system and paid to have the ventilation system removed, plugged up the roof where the extraction fans had been. Got pictures of my then 5 yr old son with a drill in his hand removing the s/s fire wall. Didn't get much for all that, but come move in date came for the new guy he had a surprise, maybe I overdid a bit when I scrawled "Happy April Fools" in magic marker on the wall ( it was april 1...)

Bottom line, read the lease, then get a lawyer to read it.

I dunno, if the LL installed or otherwise compensated the tenanant for the improvements, then he (LL) gets to keep them and use it as a leasehold improvement for the next tenant. O.T.O.H. if the tenant installed the improvements himself and did not recieve any compensation (free rent, partial pay-out etc.) then he could rip that stuff out just to P...off the LL and new tenant. All depends what the lease says.

Looks like the tenant defaulted and the LL wants him/her out, hence the tenant's reluctance to do anything until the eviction order is staring him in the face and he figures it's time to cut losses and make some kind of a buck.

This is pretty typical in the restaurant biz, just take a look at any used food eqpt. auction. Man, there's a million stories there screaming to be told....